Magnetic disk drives which write and read digital data from flexible magnetic disks are wide spread. "Floppy disk drives" have been extensively used for small, so-called microcomputer systems, for word processing applications and the like. The flexible disk cartridge includes a relatively thin, flexible jacket which is inserted into the floppy disk drive.
Rigid disk drives, such as the Model 3350 produced by IBM Corporation, usually have a fixed rigid magnetic media. The magnetic heads do not contact the magnetic surface, but ride on a thin film of air. Because of this, and other features, these disk drives are capable of extremely precise and high speed operation. This type of disk drive is commonly referred to as a "Winchester" drive.
"Bernoulli" disk drives having performance characteristics similar to that of Winchester drives, but with removable cartridges, have been developed. A flexible magnetic disk is enclosed in a rigid box which is normally completely closed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,748 to Bauck et al. and related patents that are assigned to the assignee of the present invention describe drives using Bernoulli flexible disks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,173 to Jones et al. Also, related patents that are assigned to the assignee of the present invention describe improvements which relate to so-called "half height drives."
Rigid disks enclosed in a rigid, removable cartridge, or shell have also been used. U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,452 to Thompson et al. is an example of such a drive.
The JAZ.TM. drive that is manufactured and sold by the assignee of the present invention, like a Winchester type drive, stores data on rigid recording media.
Removable cartridges that are used with such drives typically have a door which closes the cartridge when it is removed from the drive. The door prevents contamination on the magnetic recording medium when the cartridge is not in the drive. When the cartridge is inserted into the drive, the door slides to an open position to provide access for the magnetic recording heads to engage the recording medium.
When the cartridge is removed from the drive, it is often subject to rough handling. During handling, physical contact of the disk with the shell may damage the disk, particularly if the disk and cartridge shell are subject to excessive "rattling".
U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,899 to Schick ('899" patent), which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, shows a non-rattling mechanism for removable cartridges. The cartridge shown in the '899 patent, which is used with a magnetic disk drive, has a clamping mechanism that is actuated as the door to the cartridge is opened and closed. When the door closes, the mechanism clamps the recording medium against the cartridge shell to prevent the disc from rattling inside the housing, which might otherwise damage the recording disk. When the door opens, the mechanism retracts to free the disk to rotate.
Typically, the door of the '899 patent cartridge was not self-closing, but rather required a mechanical mechanism within the drive to physically close the door. If the mechanical closing mechanism did not close the door, or if a user opened the door by hand outside of the drive, then the disk is exposed to contaminants.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which clamps the disk to the cartridge shell when the cartridge is removed from the drive to prevent rattling of the cartridge, which has sufficient strength to close the cartridge door, and which is easy to assemble.